How to build quiz funnels for paid traffic

1 The bottom line

Send paid traffic to a web quiz that qualifies buyers, sells the problem, then hands them to the app already paid. It beat the App Store in head-to-head tests and gives you cleaner tracking and more control.

2 Key takeaways

• Send paid traffic to a web quiz, not the store. People scrolling ads need warming up before they will pay.
  • The quiz beat direct App Store traffic in head-to-head tests, and about 90% of the traffic goes to it Ethan Ethier, Built With Science25:15.
  • Coursiv reached $1.8M lifetime revenue since an April launch, mainly through web-to-app CP Young, Coursiv16:26.
• Sell the problem and qualify the buyer before you sell the app. Web visitors are earlier in consideration, and the wrong buyers hurt retention.
  • Visible's median time from landing on the site to purchase is 10 days, a sign of well-qualified buyers Luke Martin-Fuller, Visible51:21.
  • Rise had to unlearn its app focus on time to value and the aha moment within 30 seconds Leon Sasson, Rise Science10:44.
• Win the first screen, then keep each screen light. Most drop-off comes early, and people who start usually finish.
  • Visitor to purchase is around 2%, so a thousand visitors give roughly 500 past screen one and 200 to 300 finishing the quiz Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, web2wave4:21.
• Hand the buyer to the app in one click, with purchase events sent from the web. The subscription is active on arrival and your ad tracking stays clean.
  • Headway uses a deferred deep link on its success screen after payment Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway28:52.
  • Many web2wave clients start out wanting to send purchase events from the app Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, web2wave7:27.
• Instrument every step and polish billing before you trust the numbers. Quizzes are easy to measure, but missing basics fake good results.
  • Ladder gets a read on a new ad about 10 minutes after launch Greg Stewart, Ladder25:25.
  • Without a way to cancel, trial conversion looks high while chargebacks and refunds climb Leon Sasson, Rise Science17:28.

It's about helping them realize that they might have a problem and that we could have a solution for them that they should try out.

Leon Sasson, Rise Science

2.1 Decide that a web quiz fits your product

Web funnels reach people the store misses and give you control, but they are a new surface, not a copy of the app.

• Try web when ad installs do not convert or the audience needs warming up. Yoav Sharon, Simply21:41
  • People scrolling social are in a lean-back mindset and resist going straight to a download.
  • A web flow of a few minutes with simple questions moves them to consideration, so they hit download with intent.
  • Simply's web flow helped it succeed with Facebook for the first time, and about 20% of its revenue in the past year came from web flows.
  • Steve P. Young's Facebook ads for an older audience app get strong hook rates, hold rates and cost per install, but installs do not convert. His web-to-app test is an untested hypothesis Steve P. Young, RevenueCat9:51.
  • Web campaigns reach people with lower intent to start but often high willingness to pay. Rise reaches 40, 50 and 60 year olds at scale this way Leon Sasson, Rise Science6:45.
• Count the whole gain, not only the saved fees. Steve P. Young, App Masters3:21
  • You skip the 15 to 30% store cut and avoid ATT prompts that break attribution.
  • A processor like Paddle pays you faster than the roughly 45 days you wait on the stores.
  • The web is not platform specific, so it reaches Android users you struggle to monetize.
  • Simply found the bigger value is reaching incremental audiences who would not download from an ad Yoav Sharon, Simply25:37.
  • Web is a traditional e-commerce setup for ad platforms, so the algorithm learns faster. On app you may wait a week or two to judge creative Leon Sasson, Rise Science13:50.
  • Runna launched web checkout in December and saw higher trial start rates, higher trial conversion and higher retention in the first five or so months Miranda Paine, Runna28:37.
  • Some companies see 30 to 40% of transaction volume on the web Steve Young and Lucas, Paddle36:58.
• Build the web funnel from scratch. Leon Sasson, Rise Science4:30
  • Rise failed three times by rebuilding its app onboarding on web and chasing lower fees.
  • It worked after hundreds of iterations that treated web as a different surface, from marketing to user experience.
  • Follow the established quiz structure and spend your tests on copy, offers and flow. Headway's chatbot version of the quiz vanished after about a month Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway3:47.
  • Walk through a competitor's funnel by clicking Learn More on its ads in the Meta Ads Library Steve P. Young, MadMuscles2:59.
  • MadMuscles takes Meta ad traffic into a long web funnel and onto web checkout exclusively Steve P. Young, MadMuscles2:24.
  • Arya reached $1M ARR and 20,000 paying members using Typeform, Squarespace, Airtable and mostly Meta ads Steve P. Young, App Masters7:26.

2.2 Match each ad to its own landing page and first screen

Paid visitors arrive with one narrow intent, so give them one clear path that continues the ad.

• Pair every ad with its own first page and quiz. Steve P. Young, App Masters8:00
  • Do not build one blanket quiz for everyone, and keep optimizing each pairing.
  • Coursiv's ad, "Teenagers are building businesses with AI while all you know is ChatGPT", leads to a web page and never straight into the app.
  • If an ad targets parents, write the onboarding for a parent's pains all the way to the paywall Yoav Sharon, Simply20:46.
  • Houzz paid users converted worse on a general page. A page focused on 3D floor plans gave a 5% increase in free trial starts Houzz.
  • Rise sees interesting success matching funnels to personas, such as morning productivity versus women in their 50s with sleep problems. It is not yet a huge breakthrough, and it needs far more marketing and product coordination Leon Sasson, Rise Science15:35.
• Cut distractions and lead with the benefit. App Masters16:01
  • Open with a benefit headline, repeat the keyword you bid on, and put the call to action above the fold.
  • Remove headers and extra information from the paid page, as Houzz did in the variant that raised trial starts Houzz.
  • Strip site navigation once the flow starts, and add progress bars and social proof inside it App Masters6:59.
  • The rewrite "Save up to 32% on your health insurance in China" produced a 79% increase in leads Steve Young and Lucas, Paddle20:30.
  • Steve once hid a free lifetime offer below the fold and people complained it wasn't there. People do not scroll Steve Young and Lucas, Paddle20:30.
• Make the first screen get people to start the quiz. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway4:59
  • Lead with the outcome people want, such as becoming the most interesting person in the room, not the app name.
  • Add a "three minute quiz" label, then ask a simple question like age. A question beats a plain get started button.
  • Speak to the user with "you" and "your", and put social proof, such as "700,000 users rated 4.5 on Trustpilot", plus an easy yes or no question up front CP Young, Coursiv3:40.
  • A sample hook: "Our friends say we are glowing. Take our 5-minute quiz and uncover your intimate self." Steve P. Young, App Masters5:30
  • A/B test the copy that gets people to start Tomas Hoyos, Apt34:57.

2.3 Build the quiz to qualify buyers and sell the problem

Use the questions to help people see their problem, learn who they are, and filter out poor fits.

• Sell the problem on web and save the solution for the app. Leon Sasson, Rise Science10:44
  • Help visitors recognize and personalize their problem, such as showing that exhaustion may trace back to sleep.
  • Do not rush to a plan and feature list. Introduce solutions later, in the app.
  • Ask questions that imply features. Headway asks which celebrities inspire you, and users assume the app has their content, without any false claim Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway20:32.
• Qualify buyers, and tell some they are not a fit. Luke Martin-Fuller, Visible51:21
  • Ask about the visitor's situation and whether the product suits them before they can pay.
  • Explain what they are getting into.
  • Selling to the wrong people may lift conversion, but it kills retention, brings worse reviews and gives wrong product signals.
  • Ladder's quiz identifies the persona, recommends a program and logs answers to a Google sheet. The team defined which answers mean the ideal persona and watched their cost in real time Greg Stewart, Ladder25:25.
  • True Healers' matching quiz produced 51 leads in about a month. People love being asked about themselves Jillian Lee Stout, Melody Boselin and Sunny Dulay, True Healers10:00.
• Keep every screen light. Steve P. Young, App Masters9:45
  • Ask one question per screen, with visuals or emojis for answers.
  • Insert reassurance or social proof screens between questions, so users do not get overloaded.
  • Start with easy questions like age and gender, then add bright congratulatory screens as a small reward Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway8:02.
  • Use photos of people similar to your target user rather than illustrations.
• Make the quiz feel like a conversation, and ask for a commitment. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway12:38
  • Change the next screen based on the previous answer, with hints and facts.
  • Support users when they admit weaknesses like self doubt, so they feel heard.
  • Ask what users want to achieve and how many minutes they will invest, then show a personalized profile and plan Steve P. Young, App Masters11:50.
  • Duolingo has shown that goal-commitment screens increase retention.

2.4 Add proof and fix the screens where people leave

Reassure people at the moments they hesitate: early, during waits, and at the email ask.

• Put social proof early and again near the end. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway17:53
  • Show user counts and media logos early, then lines like "5 million users in your location", a feed of recent signups or a review block later.
  • Real time proof works too, such as a thousand people signing up in the last 12 hours.
  • Many funnels fake these claims, so only show what you can back.
• Never leave a progress bar alone on a loader screen. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway19:35
  • Add a user review, a peek at the content, or a short question like "do you self-reflect".
  • This makes it feel as if the program is being personalized.
  • Igor's clients saw higher drop-off on loader-only screens than on other screens.
• Explain the email ask. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway20:45
  • Show award logos or a preview of the result, and say you will not spam.
  • Ask for email and name near the end, just before the paywall, because you must tie the user back into the app. Reuse the name for personalization CP Young, Coursiv8:40.
  • A bare email field with a continue button can cause a huge drop-off.

2.5 Build the paywall and checkout

Treat the paywall as the end of the quiz, make it personal, and make paying fast.

• Make the paywall the last two screens, long and personal. Igor Lyubimov, web2wave8:06
  • The first screen starts talking about results, and the second shows the prices.
  • Long scrolling pages perform better on web, because buyers have questions a short mobile-style paywall cannot answer.
  • Reflect the user's age, gender and goals, and say the plan is created for them Igor Lyubimov, web2wave6:56.
  • Change the graphic and copy from quiz answers, such as a results date tied to the goal they picked.
• Use a one-page checkout with wallet buttons at the top. Steve Young and Lucas, Paddle46:03
  • Mobile buyers from an Instagram ad want the Apple Pay button immediately, not long card and address forms.
  • Put Apple Pay and Google Pay first.
  • Web-to-app companies launching ads from Instagram see 60 to 70% of payments go through wallets.
• Check approval rates and add payment fallbacks. Igor Lyubimov, web2wave26:20
  • With Stripe, use an entity in the same country as your users, since cross-border charges fail more.
  • Loosen fraud rules that are too strict.
  • If approval stays low, use payment orchestration like Primer.io with fallbacks, or Paddle, which handles registration and taxes but is less customizable.
• Add post-purchase upsells to fund ad spend. Igor Lyubimov, web2wave15:02
  • Offer PDFs, infographics, physical goods or more subscriptions, charged in one click without asking for card details again.
  • Chain them: if the user buys, offer something pricier, and if they decline, offer something cheaper.
  • Break even on ads with the initial offer and earn the profit on upsells.
  • Upsells can raise LTV by 20 to 30% easily.

2.6 Hand off to the app and measure

Land the buyer in an active app, then watch every step from visit to activation.

• Send the user into the app with a deferred deep link, and send purchase events from the web. Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, Headway28:52
  • Do not ask users to copy or create a password and log in. Aim for a one-click flow.
  • Set up the ad, UTM tracking and Meta events on the funnel, not in the app Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, web2wave7:27.
  • Pass the web user ID through Adjust, AppsFlyer or Branch, so the app restores the subscription, answers and status via RevenueCat.
• Instrument the whole funnel. Tomas Hoyos, Apt34:57
  • Track landing page visits, the share who start the quiz, drop-off at each question, paywall views and paid conversions.
  • Measure how many buyers open and use the app after paying. Users who never start are more likely to ask for refunds or file chargebacks Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, web2wave5:55.
  • Expect about 50% lost on the first screen and only 20 to 30% reaching the end of the quiz. On the paywall, 4 to 8% buy, sometimes 10 to 12% Steve P. Young and Igor Lyubimov, web2wave4:21.
  • Paywall to active subscription averages 6%, with a range of 2 to 15%. Losing 70 to 80% of visitors in the quiz is fine, because finishers are ready to pay. Some projects reach 15% with only 20 to 30% finishing Igor Lyubimov, web2wave21:35.
• Polish billing before you trust your test results. Leon Sasson, Rise Science17:28
  • Off Apple, you own payments, cancellation, plan changes, refunds, support and chargebacks.
  • Poor handling hurts app reviews and gets you flagged by credit card systems.

2.7 Where they disagree

Some tactics only fit certain products, and a few carry real risk.

• Trial or hard paywall.
  • Steve P. Young suggests selling on web with a hard paywall, no free trial, and a first month at a discount such as $4, then the full price Steve P. Young, App Masters7:26.
  • Runna's web flow saw higher trial start rates and trial conversion, so trials can work on web Miranda Paine, Runna28:37.
• Upsells versus regulator risk.
  • Funnels that hide full prices or stack upsells after a $1 charge invite regulators and hurt the whole industry. Show full prices and be clear about what users will be charged Yuliya Lennox, Solid Starts1:02:16.
  • A $1 plan funnel ended up charging about $350 to $400 to the host's wife, who had to fight for a refund.
  • Apple removes apps inconsistently, so unclear rules do not make aggressive tactics safe.
• Who it fits.
  • Coursiv's approach suits educational and fitness apps CP Young, Coursiv16:26.
  • Desktop B2B buyers research more, so checkout step count matters less for them than for mobile buyers Steve Young and Lucas, Paddle46:03.
  • Funnel-to-persona matching is still only partly proven at Rise Leon Sasson, Rise Science15:35.